The Relationship Between Measures of Preservice Principal Practice and Future Principal Job Performance

Principals are the second-largest school-based contributor to student achievement. Interventions focused early in the “pipeline” for identifying and developing effective principals might be a promising strategy for promoting principal effectiveness, yet no prior research has examined measures of principal performance during preservice preparation. We analyze 31 measures of principal practices developed by New Leaders and integrate into their year-long, preservice Aspiring Principals program. We link these measures to administrative data in nine districts to understand how they predict student and principal outcomes after candidate placement. We find associations with gains in student achievement on standardized tests, gains in student attendance, and higher rates of principal retention. We compare our results with studies of measures from licensure exams and evaluation systems.

Principal Effectiveness and Principal Turnover

Research demonstrates the importance of principal effectiveness for school performance and the potentially negative effects of principal turnover. However, we have limited understanding of the factors that lead principals to leave their schools or about the relative effectiveness of those who stay and those who turn over. We investigate the association between principal effectiveness and principal turnover using longitudinal data from Tennessee, a state that has invested in multiple measures of principal performance through its educator evaluation system. Using three measures of principal performance, we show that less-effective principals are more likely to turn over, on average, though we find some evidence that the most effective principals have elevated turnover rates as well. Moreover, we demonstrate the importance of differentiating pathways out of the principalship, which vary substantially by effectiveness. Low performers are more likely to exit the education system and to be demoted to other school-level positions, whereas high performers are more likely to exit and to be promoted to central office positions. The link between performance and turnover suggests that prioritizing hiring or placing effective principals in schools with large numbers of low-income or low-achieving students can serve to lower principal turnover rates in high-needs environments.

Strategic Retention: Principal Effectiveness and Teacher Turnover in Multiple-Measure Teacher Evaluation Systems

Studies link principal effectiveness to lower average rates of teacher turnover. However, principals need not target retention efforts equally to all teachers. Instead, strong principals may seek to strategically influence the composition of their school’s teaching force by retaining high performers and not retaining lower performers. We investigate such strategic retention behaviors with longitudinal data from Tennessee. Using multiple measures of teacher and principal effectiveness, we document that indeed more effective principals see lower rates of teacher turnover, on average. Moreover, this lower turnover is concentrated among high-performing teachers. In contrast, turnover rates of the lowest-performing teachers, as measured by classroom observation scores, increase substantially under higher-rated principals. This pattern is more apparent in advantaged schools and schools with stable leadership.

I Do as I Think: Exploring the Alignment of Principal Cognitions and Behaviors and Its Effects on Teacher Outcomes

Purpose: Decades of research in educational leadership has extolled the importance of principals in both the effective functioning of teachers and the overall performance of schools. The mechanisms explaining what makes principals effective in the eyes of teachers, however, are not well known. This study builds on prior research to posit that principal effectiveness is the result of their own cognitions, which are translated into specific leadership behaviors directed at teachers, which, in turn, serve to foster trust. Research Methods/Approach: Data came from principals and teachers in 33 French and English Canadian elementary schools. All principals took part in a face-to-face interview which elicited their leadership cognitions, while teachers responded to measures of principal leadership behaviors, trust, and effectiveness. Findings: This research provides empirical support for a sequential mediation model whereby principal leadership cognitions were related to teacher evaluations of principal effectiveness through teacher ratings of principal leadership behaviors and teacher trust in their principal. Specifically, we found support for three specific leadership behaviors (supporting, developing, and active management-by-exception). Implications for Research and Practice: The results reveal the importance of a number of distinctive leadership behaviors in fostering a work context where teachers are able to perform effectively. Principals who “walk the talk” tended to be perceived as more trustworthy and effective. Additionally, the results suggest that principals’ professional development could focus on cognitions related to leadership behaviors and effectiveness.

Message from editor

Dear Readers,It is the great honor for us to publish 9th volume, 4th issue of International Journal of Learning and Teaching.International Journal of Learning and Teaching (IJLT) is an international and multi-disciplinary which aims to provide a platform for the publication of the most advanced scientific research in the areas of learning, development, instruction and teaching. The journal welcomes original empirical investigations. The papers may represent a variety of theoretical perspectives and different methodological approaches. They may refer to any age level, from infants to adults and to a diversity of learning and instructional settings, from laboratory experiments to field studies. The major criteria in the review and the selection process concern the significance of the contribution to the area of learning and teaching. IJLT covers all aspects of education; trends in education, the emerging and educational settings, instructional design, learning-teaching methods and applications, instructional multimedia, new education environments, theoretical principles, assessment and evaluation and related fields.A total number of thirteen (13) manuscripts were submitted for this issue and each paper has been subjected to double-blind peer review process by the reviewers specialized in the related field. At the end of the review process, a total number of four (4) high quality research papers were selected and accepted for publication.Aim of this issue is to give the researchers an opportunity to share the results of their academic studies. There are different research topics discussed in the articles. For example, Enisa Mede, Gulcin Cosgun and Derin Atay carried out a qualitative study in order to find out and compare the speaking techniques that are used by native (NESTs) and non-native (NNESTs) instructors of English Preparatory Programs at universities around Turkey. They concluded that there are both similarities and differences among NESTs and NNESTs about implementing various techniques in EFL speaking classes. Nevertheless, Azhar Mahmood and Irshad Hussain aimed to find out the relationship between teacher empowerment and principal effectiveness in secondary schools of Islamabad and figured out that there are significant relationships between teacher empowerment and principal effectiveness. In addition, Remziye Ergul examined the problem-solving skills of teachers and showed that teachers were partially successful to solve the two-variables problem, but they failed to solve the three-variables problem. Finally, R. Vinothkanna, V. Swetha Reddy and M. Saritha Reddy conducted a study in order to intellectualize undergraduate education as a process of improving students along the path from novice towards proficient understanding within a given discipline.The topics of the next issue will be different. You can make sure that we will be trying to serve you with our journal with a rich knowledge in which different kinds of topics are discussed in 2017 Volume.I would like to present many thanks to all the contributors who helped to publish this issue.Best regards,Assoc. Prof. Dr. Olga PilliEditor – in Chief

Relationship between teacher empowerment and principal effectiveness at secondary schools level

The continual cycle of education reform movements suggests that there is a need for principals to evaluate and re-define their leadership roles on a continuous basis. The expanded expectations and responsibilities placed on schools have seemingly created a need for school leadership to be shared or distributed among teachers and principals. The purpose of this study was to find out the relationship between teacher empowerment and principal effectiveness in secondary schools of Islamabad. It was correlational study included the collection of quantitative data to obtain greater understanding and detail about the relationships between teacher empowerment and principal effectiveness as perceived by teachers. The population of the study was 458 Secondary School male teachers working in 45 secondary schools. The 229 Secondary School Teachers were taken as a sample by a random sampling technique which is 50% of the population. Two standardized instruments i.e. School Participant Empowerment Scale and Audit of Principal Effectiveness were used for collection of data on the study of two variables. Pearson r) Mean and Standard Deviation were used for data analysis. The findings of this study were showed significant relationships between Teacher Empowerment and Principal Effectiveness. It is concluded that the teacher’s empowerment in schools enhanced the effectiveness of the principals. Keywords: Teacher Empowerment, professional growth, principal effectiveness, organizational development.